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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6203031" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 339: January 2006part 4/6Creature Catalogue IV: More deliberate tapping of nostalgia here, as they stop using The Dragon's Bestiary altogether, and go back to a series originally used between 84-86. Instead of providing new monsters, it's focussed on converting some of the many monsters that haven't got 3rd ed statistics yet, but really should. So I guess the question becomes less one of creativity, but how well they get converted. Faithful, powered up, or horribly nerfed. A mixed bag, as is often the case.  Animus become a template, as befits undead that retain class abilities. This gives them reasonable fast healing and a grab bag of special abilities for an LA of +4. Iffy choice for PC's as usual. Blindheim were the foglight eyed frogs from the Fiend Folio. They get an improved degree of ecological thought and rudimentary society added, with is actually quite nice. They may be weird little frogs, but they're still just about smart enough to be people, dammit. Carrionette are that old standby of evil puppets. How could they leave these guys out? They'll wind up operating your body, and speaking through other people's mouths. Angel will foil them!  Death head's trees are also already well catered for in the 3rd party Ravenloft license by white wolf. Why they feel they have to repeat them here confuses me. Do they think that Ravenloft & Dragonlance's new incarnations don't count or something? Irksome politics aside, they're still a cool idea, decently converted. Greyhawk Dragons were of course one of the more common sources of half-dragons last edition, given their urbanised, sociable nature. Everyone else is getting in on the act these days, but they're still holding on, albeit with a somewhat nerfed breath weapon. Maybe someone you've known for years has been one all along.Dusanu are one I don't remember. They were originally from module X5, apparently. Still, like yellow musk zombies, they're a plant based false undead created by parasitic infection. You die from their attacks, you'll be joining them soon. They also include an advanced version, which is actually pretty tactically capable. Goblyns always seemed like a dumb name to me first time round. Another one covered in the new Ravenloft monster book anyway. You ought to simply acknowledge the existence of that rather than waste valuable page count on this crap. And they still feel vaguely inessential in terms of abilities too. Yawn. Maggot golems are of course the perfect minions for worms that walk. They now get fast healing and an engulf special attack that's serious nightmare fuel. No complaints here. Suel Liches also become a template that may or may not be worth it from a PC point of view, but make for pretty nifty adversaries. They can possess anyone, and don't even need the usual tells a spellcaster has in terms of equipment. Just the thing for paranoia promotion. Nagpa are an interesting one. They appeared in the Princess Ark series, got PC stats in Top ballista, and were an early example of the cursed with awesome, therefore I must AAAAAnnnngst principle. This conversion completely leaves out the eternal reincarnation, which seems to be missing the point a bit. Not sure it should be a template either. Hrrmm. Nahh. Not keen on this implementation. Phanaton should be very familiar to anyone reading this from the start. One of the many awesome things created in X1, they've since got PC stats in here before and also played a part in the princess ark series. As LA 0 creatures with gliding and climbing, they're not a bad addition to a party in 3e either. Yay for that. Xvart are one I don't feel any particular need to bring back, as they're just another low level marauding humanoid. Tiny little stat changes just aren't enough, they need their own niche to survive. Being the goblinoid equivalent of gnomes doesn't quite cut it. Order of the stick has to deal with long casting times. But sometimes you don't need to identify things to know they're bad.</blockquote>

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